How I'd reboot Ben 10: Part 2, characters
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In rebooting the Ben 10 series, i would go back to the road trip format, as it enables a greater amount of variety in what the characters experience. However, despite Grandpa Max, Gwen, and Ben himself all being on this trip, their personalities would be tweaked a bit, in the interest of revisiting the concept and trying something new with it. in this article, i will cover Ben, Gwen, Vilgax, and Grandpa max.
Ben would be a little less brash, and more of a shy kid who wants to be a hero, but is picked on by everyone. He would grapple with some insecurities about feeling useless. He and Gwen would fight a lot, because they're cousins and just don't like each other much at first. But during that night of summer vacation, he'd find the omnitrix. He'd have the chance to be a REAL hero. 10 of them. It'd be up to him to master control of the omnitrix, and to use it responsibly. After obtaining it, he'd look for any chance he could find to use it. He'd become more friendly, more open. He'd show more of his somewhat reckless but heroic(kinda) personality.Eventually, he'd start getting cocky, starting to feel like he's finally somebody. Somewhere along the line, he'd be put in a situation where the omnitrix doesn't work, or he loses, and he'd worry that he's not good enough, and maybe he doesn't deserve the omnitrix, until he comes to the conclusion that it's not coming off, and if he's going to have this thing stuck to his arm, he's gonna go down fighting, whether he's a failure or not.
Gwen would be a bit of a nerd. Not the glasses wearing kind (like omniverse. still gives me nightmares), but she'd be fairly knowledgable of sci-fi and fantasy. She occasionally tinkers with machines, but she's no expert. Ben would be dismissive of her at first, not wanting to talk to the family. After getting the omnitrix, she'd be facinated with it, yet jealous of ben, feeling as though she could've used it better. Gwen isn't afraid to be blunt and say stuff most people would be to afraid to say. She and Ben, being cousins, would argue a lot, but eventually, they'd come to trust each other, feeling like they can trust one another. Gwen would help on the "let me research this dude you're fighting" side of things, but would sometimes try to help with some small invention she has made, wanting to be a hero as well. She feels some solace in being the smarter cousin, but does still feel like her and Ben's posistions should be reversed. This could easily lead to a breaking point, where Gwen leaves Ben to deal with his own problems, leaving a fracture in the friendship. Eventually, she'd come back to help Ben when he needs her advice most, restoring their friendship.
Grandpa Max would still be a retired plumber, but instead of just being a very skilled plumber, he is a veteran of an interstellar war. He had been recruited from his place on earth, forced to join the long war. Max would have seen a lot of tragedies, losses, and suffering. As far as his family knew, he went on a long trip across the world. He'd have returned a man happy with his family, but determined to keep them out of anything relating to the plumbers. When Ben got the omnitrix, he was sad about this, knowing Ben would most likely become wrapped up in something he was too young for. He'd provide words of wisdom for Ben, and some tips about fighting, but would refuse to fight himself, having seen to much violence to partake in anymore. Until, that is, he is forced back into action...
Vilgax has seen the most drastic changes. His species is on the verge of extinction, and it is all because of the war Max fought in. He was a commander of the Chimera su genesis legion, who fought on the side of the plumbers. He and Max were, in fact, friends, at a point. Where Max loathes violence though, vilgax gloried in it. He enjoyed the violence, the conquest, and when the war was over...he wanted more. He turned against the plumbers, taking their weaponry and threatening their main base, asking Max to join him. Max instead stopped him, destroying vilgax's arm during their fight. During their battle, the plumbers decided to not wait on Max and launch a planetkiller at vilgax's homeworld, in an effort to destroy the weapons there, as well as to eradicate the hostile species before they undid their efforts to bring peace. Max got away in an escape pod, being warned over an intercom about this strike, and vilgax was presumed dead. They thought wrong, as vilgax had escaped, and he was enraged. The peacekeepers had destroyed his planet, a casualty he wasn't expecting. He blamed Max for this treacherous act, and swore to destroy him and his bloodline, the next time he saw him. During that time, he discovered a weapon he could use to continue conquering, a weapon that would allow him to destroy all the plumbers. The omnitrix. All he needed to do was to find it... -
Forgot to mention: The plumbers are more like an army of peacekeepers then a police force. I think that is important to mention.
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Revision #1: Ben and Gwen are to start out really disliking each other, yet needing one another. Ben has the power, but second guesses himself and has trouble making important decisions. Gwen is intelligent, and good at speaking her mind, but ultimately she can't fight (not at the start of the series, anyways). When they work together, Gwen can give ideas and advice for how Ben can use his aliens, and help him make tough choices in dangerous situations. Their dynamic needs to be utilized, and needs to be about the two growing to respect one another.
